import re

line = 'Cats are smarter than dogs'

matchObj = re.match(r'(.*) are (.*?) .*', line, re.M | re.I)

if matchObj:
    print('matchObj.group() : ', matchObj.group())
    print('matchObj.group(1) : ', matchObj.group(1))
    print('matchObj.group(2) : ', matchObj.group(2))
else:
    print('No match!!')
